DJ Vadim
U Can't Lurn Imaginashun

If you want to make beautiful music, you must play the black and the white notes together. [Richard M. Nixon] 

Not many – if any - musical biographies open with quotations from Richard M. Nixon. But DJ Vadim, a.k.a. the John Coltrane of hip hop, ain’t exactly your average ‘round-the-way’ producer. 

Needless to say, though producer/DJ's these days are a dime-a-dozen, a veteran like Vadim is not the kind o’ cat to release 12 tracks of the latest in-vogue soul loop. In fact his new album, “U Can’t Lurn Imaginashun” is one of the sickest joints on the block, continuing - and embellishing – the producer’s inventive journey into the realm of sound. Anyone that knows anything about Vadim knows to expect the unexpected, and “UCLI” has surprises - and dopeness - in abundance. 
 
“U Can’t Lurn Imaginashun' is all about mining the deepest parts of the psyche to find inspiration. It’s about how, even though we learn so much at school - courses in languages, computer studies, science, religion, sport – and live in a time of unprecedented technological prowess (phones, computers, ipods, music software), imagination is the one thing you must journey deep inside yourself to find. 

“Cheap computers and powerful software can’t make music for you,” states Vadim. “That comes from the imagination, from the will to fight for your life, to love and to struggle. These things can’t be learned in universities, but they can be discovered within ourselves. So many people live their lives without asking ‘why?’ or ‘if...? We just accept the rules, play the cards we’re dealt with. Being diagnosed with cancer gave me a reason to fight for my life. I wasn’t going to let the cancer overcome me - my body nor my passion, music. Even with tragedy knocking at the door I looked within myself to create something new. I felt kindness, love and appreciation from so many people around the world praying and sending positive energy. I didn’t accept the cards dealt to me and since recovering I feel healthier for it. I now know who my real friends are. I would never wish what I went through on anyone else, but I wouldn't change it for the world because it made me…is making me…into a better me…” 

On “U Can’t Lurn Imaginashun” Vadim hits every note and every colour, not just the black and white ones. Like all Vadim projects, the songs here are fresh, funky and fun. There are reggae rubs that could sit next to Desmond Decker; neo-soul and conscious-rap jams that recall Q Tip or Jill Scott; experimental gems akin to the work of Flying Lotus or J Dilla. Mostly though it’s the sound of music being embraced and loved, and of a re-inspired life being lived. If ATCQ hadn’t already used Beats, Rhymes & Life as an album title, it would be equally suitable here… Music rots when it gets too far from the dance. Poetry atrophies when it gets too far from music. [Ezra Pound]